Management of Change and Organizational Development - Essay Example

Management of Change and Organizational Development [Name of Student] [Name of Institution] [Course] [Date] In every team work, creativity and excellence are some of the most important aspects to be considered in a growing team or organization. This is so because creativity and excellence are one of the basic attributes of an effective team. They are also the backbone of changes that arise in developing any organizational goal. Particularly in project management, it is very crucial to embark on factors that will ensure efficient team management. The driving force for every effective project that has achieved or is achieving its goals and objectives has been an efficient management of the team. This study seeks to qualify and disqualify certain management practices in our project which would have affected the project in one way or another. It is no doubt that when all other factors like technology, strategies and finances are held constant, the only remaining factor that will enable a firm to remain on the competitive edge is the teamwork. As the functions and scope of work in terms of duties gets bigger and larger, the importance of the team begins to manifest itself. In this context of the study topic, failure of the team to recognize its fundamental functionality might affect its aims and the general objectives of the whole project. It is also with this context and idea that this study is focusing its means of rectifications, analysis, specifications together with recommendations. Many of the project specifications and objectives have been fully satisfied. However, it is unfortunate that some might have not been satisfied in terms of the team’s zeal of actions. This might have been caused by some changes which would have not been in line with the blueprint aim of the project. My team’s project report asserted that organizational change refers to the modification of an organization’s activities and processes that deal with environmental changes and arising problems. It also recognized five main activities that should be considered in driving organizational change i.e. motivating change, creating a vision, development of political support for change, managing the transition from the current stage to the desired future and sustaining momentum for change. Its recommendations were adhered towards teamwork and that employees should be highly involved during the change process. Also, organizational leaders should use a systematic approach while implementing change. The project report made important conclusion that change efforts need to be directed towards improving performance of the organizations as well as those people who serve there. Thus, the five drivers of change are essential as far as change management in organizations is concerned. It is within these points that this study lays more focus on and redirects its analysis and inputs towards teamwork and its effectiveness (Lambardo & Eichinger, 1995 and De Meuse, 2007). According to Maslow (1954), the structuring process of any organization in terms of downsizing and reinventing itself tend to create new roles which involve a great deal of team orientation. In this case, organizations become very dependent on some specific and important issues of concerns. One of these concerns is to make sure that our intended consumers are effectively satisfied. At some point, an individual effort might be negligible due to complexity of tasks demands. This necessitates the overall contribution of every team member to emerge in the process of shouldering out to drive the objectives of the organizations so as to achieve their aims. Theories which look into identifications of elements of team to succeed arise. One common thing about them is that they both consider methodologies and instruments that are employed to determine those aspects of success. The 7T model developed by L. Michael and E. Robert in 1995 looked into understanding team work. They considered certain aspects in creating and evaluating a successful team in any organization. These considered aspects included team selection, training of the team and finally the general design of the tasks at hand. All these aspects contained in them important contributions and guidelines which enable an excellent team evaluation. More clearly, team evaluation will always be the centre principle that will determine what step the organizations have taken in achieving what were their original goals and objectives. In this case, the inside and outside factors of the team are considered (De Meuse, Tang & Dai, 2009). The internal factors that formed the basis of team evaluation are as outlined below; i. Trust each others efforts into the team’s operations in terms of truthful and clear forms of communication. ii. Appreciations of every member’s talents in terms of acquired and enhanced capability or allocated and deployed talents within the team. iii. Thrust in terms of having a common agenda which is unifying for accomplishments and team. In this case, management and commitments should be clearly outlined. Goals should also be clarified as well. iv. Skills should be focused in terms of tasks of every member of the team to enable flexibility in assigning functions to every member. This should be accompanied with clear measurement and delivery to the intended consumers of the members output. v. Resource management and decision making requires teamwork. Therefore, every management should employ great measures improving skills in terms of teaming. This would ensure maximum coordination when it comes to team atmosphere, team learning and management process and conflict resolution as well. All the above factors should be properly coordinated with excellent leadership of the team leader. This is referred to as team-leader fit, which indicates the extent to which the team leader incorporates every members needs. They should also be accompanied by maximum support from the organization. Team support from the organization indicates the flexibility between the leadership of the organization and the team. Another important model for team evaluation and effectiveness is the GRPI model which was developed by Rubin, Plovnick and Fry in 1977 and looked into effectiveness of a team. This could be in terms of goals and interpersonal relationships within the team. It can also be in terms of roles and processes carried out by every member of the team. According to the authors, this model follows a similar pattern with the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory which was developed in 1954. In this case, a team’s initial level of operation should be identifying its goals. In this way, there will be more clarity in terms of responsibilities and every member’s roles for the team. Consequently, redefinition of the team’s roles should be paramount in enabling members of the team to make important and crucial readjustments in the process of achieving goals and objectives of the organization. This would enable absolute flexibility in making decisions that set proper ways of solving a conflict. It would ensure good work flow as well. The components of the model entail; Definition of a goal; this should be in terms of the purpose of the team in clear way and proper harmony of the preferred outcome. It should also be defined in terms of utmost comprehension of the fundamental responsibilities. Agreement on the standards and expectations; this should be made clear in terms of priorities and deadlines. It should encompass clear understanding of boundaries and quality of work required from each member of the team. Role clarification; this is the acceptance of the team leader, understanding of the member’s roles and tasks. This point contains teamwork by sharing responsibilities of operations as well (Kirkman, Gibson & Shapiro, 2001, Katzenbach & Smith, 1993 and De Meuse, Tang & Dai, 2009). Processes and fluency of work entails communication, making decision and solving conflict or problems in team. More importantly, it contains procedures and patterns of work. Finally, it contains interpersonal relationship in terms of member relations with others and building up of trust. It also defines clear boundaries of sensitivity and flexibility to each other. In addition, it entails proper communication and good coordination in resolving a problem or conflict. According to Katzenbach and Smith model, the focus was laid on the team basics. The most important aspect in this model is the realization of possibilities of achieving beyond the obvious expectations. A common perception believes that it is not easy to perform duties which are meant for others in the same team. This is not the case in this model as it focuses on the possible ways of sharing responsibilities even if it was meant for teammate. The key issues are sharing commitments, skills and accountability. It emphasizes on general acceptance of roles and accountabilities of others so as to move together as a team. The first aspect of ripping utmost outcome of the team is to accept going beyond the normal roles and responsibilities, but to also become accountable to others in the team. This is what Katzenbach and Smith (1993) advocates for in this model. No doubt, this is what I would recommend and advocates for too in my team. In my case, I would ensure taking responsibility in cases where a fellow teammate is not capable of handling his or her responsibility. Vividly, this would ensure directed movement in togetherness so as to achieve our common goal. As far as LaFasto and Larson Model are concerned, the dynamism of teamwork and collaboration is the utmost means of ensuring effectiveness of the team. According to LaFasto and Larson (2001), there are five basic components which the team must be well conversant with in order to effectively manage a team. This theory includes a number of other great characteristics of active management which are very necessary. Organization of the environment, team leadership, conflict and/or problem resolution, team relationship and team member are the five dynamics of teamwork. They also form the backbone of collaboration according to LaFasto and Larson model. I would recommend in my team the observation of abilities and good behaviors within the team that are of real importance. Focus should be towards ensuring clarity in organizational activities proper flow of practices which will ensure confidence and commitment in the team (Kirkman, Gibson & Shapiro, 2001). Hackman model which also emphasizes on team effectiveness, acknowledges that there are certain conditions that must be satisfied in order to be effective. Hackman (2002) states that, what is real is real and it should be the real team not just the team by name. Active participation should be substantial. A directive agenda for work should be the guiding principle too. An enabled structure should not only be clearly stated to facilitate work. In addition, observation of the organizational support and continued training within the team will ensure team effectiveness. The utmost measure of team effectiveness is its provisions that in one way or another go beyond the customer expectations. Its growth in terms of capabilities and satisfaction of the member needs are the most paramount aspects which ensure good performance of the team. Observation of this model and/or theory in my team will make us go beyond expectation and will enable us to experience great growth in the future. The last model of great importance as far the topic of study is concerned is the Lencioni Model. It was developed by Lencioni (2002) and according to the model; the improvement of the team entails critically understanding positions and characteristics of the dysfunction. It observes implications of no trust in the team and the fear of conflict in the event it arises in the team. It also takes great consideration of what might happen to the team in the absence of commitment. Moreover, it concludes that luck of accountability in conjunction with all the above will interfere with the flow actions and responsibility within the team. A great and considerable underperformance will befall the team. I would advocate for our team not to turn its back to trust, commitment, accountability, team resolution of problems and to be attentive to results. Having considered these factors, my team will achieve our objective even beyond our expectations. In conclusion, change in every organization is inevitable and comes in different dimensions and scenarios. Most importantly however is to take advantage of the modern ideologies and continuously improving skills and competencies. Training of the team regularly ensures among characteristics a developing team, the trust and common commitments towards a clear goal. My team needs to go beyond the normal specifications of responsibilities and entertain sharing of responsibilities, an act which makes us both accountable. REFERENCES De Meuse, K. P. (2007). Summary of the current team literature: How well is the 20-dimension Team Architect® measure supported by research? Minneapolis, MN: Lominger International: A Korn/Ferry Company. De Meuse, K. P., Tang, K. Y., & Dai, G. (2009). Construct validation of Lominger T7 Model of team effectiveness. Minneapolis, MN: Lominger International: A Korn/Ferry Company. Hackman, J. R. (2002). Leading teams: Setting the stage for great performances. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (1993). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kirkman, B. L., Gibson, C. B., & Shapiro, D. L. (2001). “Exporting” teams: Enhancing the implementation and effectiveness of work teams in global affiliates. Organizational Dynamics, 30(1), 12-39. LaFasto, F. and Larson, C. (2001). When teams work best: 6000 team members and leaders tell what it takes to succeed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Lencioni, P. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lombardo, M. M., and Eichinger, R. W. (1995). The Team Architect® user’s manual. Minneapolis, MN: Lominger Limited. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row. Read More